The French term “genre” is derived from the same Latin root as
“general”, “genus”, “gender”, “genesis”, “generate”, “genius” and
“gene”. In modern French, as well as meaning “literary genre”, it
also means “of the same sort”, “kind”, “gender”, especially
linguistically, and “genus”, biological kind. Etymologically and
pragmatically the word originates in the idea of discerning a
broader pattern or category in elementary phenomena. In the sphere
of texts and communications, genre might be said to be a recognised
pattern of discourse, a tacit or explicit convention about what
kinds of words and representations b…

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464Genre, Genre Theory2Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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